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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Ryan Newman Soars to Coca-Cola 600 Pole at Charlotte

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR

The site of Ryan Newman's first ever pole, the Indiana native again proved to have the magic touch during the NASCAR Sprint Cup's month of May festivities at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Taking his #39 US Army Chevrolet to his 6th pole for the Coca-Cola 600, Newman's top spot in qualifying will allow him to start his 9th NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte. However, despite mastering qualifying around the 1.5 mile oval, Ryan Newman has yet to win a points-paying Sprint Cup event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

While auto racing mogul Roger Penske will be able to relish the start of the 2010 Indy 500 with his team's driver Helio Castroneves starting from pole, Penske missed out on a sweep for poles in the two major Memorial Day weekend racing events. The Miller Lite #2 Dodge of Kurt Busch hunted past Penske Racing driver Ryan Newman thanks to a late qualifying draw. Carried on the momentum of last Saturday's Sprint All-Star race victory, Kurt Busch fast time was just 4/100ths of a second slower than his former teammate.

Like Kurt Busch, All-Star Showdown winner Martin Truex Jr set himself on a noble quest after a second pole following his fast time at Dover in the last NASCAR Sprint Cup points race. Performing well season-long in his first year with the #56 NAPA Toyota of Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex Jr and the team are finally getting sizable recognition for their 2010 efforts.

Rounding out the top-five in Coca-Cola 600 qualifying is the #9 Dodge of Kasey Kahne followed by his future teammate Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson in the the #48 Lowes Chevy sporting special Memorial Day weekend colours. With Martin Truex Jr mustering the best time from a Toyota Camry stock car with 3rd fastest speed, 6th through 9th place shows that Toyota is sporting a strong hand. Leading this group was winner of last year's rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 David Reutimann for Michael Waltrip Racing followed by the all three Joe Gibbs Racing cars. The #11 FedEx Toyota of Denny Hamlin led Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.

Anticipation for NASCAR's longest scheduled race will be accompanied with busy preparation for the #12 Penske Racing team. Brad Keselowski is being sent to a backup car after his primary Dodge race car made significant contact with the turn 4 wall of Charlotte.

The race commemorating the 50th year of the 600 mile event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Sprint Cup is scheduled for a 5:45 P.M. start time on Sunday.